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 Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 3:49 pm
"Heyheyheyhey," Björn said suddenly. He'd heard about the fighting, and he didn't like it any more than Liam did, "She's your sister whether you like her or not. Don't call her that."
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 3:52 pm
Still facing the door, Julian's face twitched into a snarl at the reprimand before it seemed to simply slide off his face, leaving it blank. He shivered, shaking his head and regretting it.
"Right," he said, neither disagreement nor apology.
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 3:53 pm
"Look. You can come back to our room if you want, but you've gotta get out before Rabid gets home."
Yes, they stilled called it the 'room', even if it was a two-story house.
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 3:54 pm
Giving the door an icy look, Julian nodded slowly.
"Yeah...I just need to clean up," he said, looking at his hands. The nosebleed had stopped, leaving his hands covered and blood and his fingers stuck together. "With hot, scalding water. Maybe past scalding. Boiling water sounds good."
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 3:56 pm
"Hell, stick 'em in the oven for all I care," Björn murmured under his breath and went quickly to his door...s, holding the second open for Julian. Let him stumble up by himself.
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 4:00 pm
Julian went in, staggering only a little as he went into the kitchen to wash the blood from his face. All the while he was beginning to seethe at the chastising. He'd feel anyway he wanted about that no good little b***h. How the ******** did anyone get off telling him what to do? He flicked the water on, putting his hands under the hot stream. No right. No right. He'd show them. No right at all. He was in control, not them-
"Stop," Julian said under his breath, realizing his hands had clenched under the water and not all the blood that drained into the sink had just leaked from his nose. He uncurled his fingers, feeling the cuts he'd torn into his palms heal over. "Just stop."
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 4:02 pm
Björn watched carefully from the doorway, slowly growing more uneasy. There was definitely something wrong with Julian's head...again. Christ...
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 4:07 pm
Unaware he was being watched, Julian stared at the blood swirling down the drain, leaning against the sink as he cupped water in his hands and washed off his face. It burned like acid against his skin but he didn't care. He turned off the water, wiping his hands off on his shirt to dry them, and caught himself on the counter. He was tired. Very, very tired.
"I'm gonna just go home," he said, looking up and noticing Björn at last. "There's a spare key hidden in the hall, and I'll just...yeah. Thanks for helping me out."
And he left without another word.
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 4:46 pm
__Part 23
Julian was woken by a sharp kick to his shin. He jolted, slamming his head against the door. Cursing, looking up, his lip curled as he saw it was Crow standing over him.
"Have fun out in the hall?" she asked sweetly. Julian snarled. "Good. Get used to it. I want you out of my house."
"What?"
"You heard me," Crow said boredly, opening the door and going inside. Julian got up and followed after, not quite comprehending.
"I heard you. I just don't understand. You're throwing me out?" he asked. Crow nodded.
"Yup. See, I'm tired of you bitchin' me out left and right, and I can say wholeheartedly that I've just gotten, oh, you know, fed up. I want you out. Don't call us, we'll call you. You know the deal."
Julian leaned against the couch, arms crossed.
"I'm not going."
Crow grinned.
"Like hell. I will throw you out."
"What got you into even more of a bitchy mood today? What, did you try to jump Liam's bones and get shunted off to the side? Not that he probably isn't already doing that. Frigid b***h like you must really try his patience."
Crow, gritting her teeth so hard her gums had begun to bleed, rounded on Julian.
"Well, I tried to make a whore out of myself like you are, but I just couldn't quite live up to the standard you set," she said politely. Julian gave an incredulous laugh.
"So what does that make Rabid?" he asked. "Surely if you're insulting one you're insulting both."
"You took her from me," Crow said abruptly. "You ******** miserable son of a b***h. I knew her first."
"You're delusional," Julian said, brushing his sister aside. "You're talking crazy, you know. You should get that checked."
"So says the brilliant doctor who wakes up screaming and trying to claw his eyes out," Crow said in a sing-song voice. Julian froze.
"Shut up," he said.
"Oh, did I touch a nerve? Poor dear. Afraid of the dark, are you? Bad dreams and needing dear loving Mother and Father to come in and coddle you?"
"Shut up."
"I see, I see. Little precious son's all scaaaared. Why don't you just crawl on home and see if they'll even take you back now, Nahalt-UHN!"
Julian struck Crow across the face so hard it sent her sprawling. She staggered against the table, cradling one side of her face.
"You b*****d," she shrieked. Julian stared past her, his hand clenched.
"Keep talking, whore," he said, advancing on her. "Keep. Talking."
Crow shrank back, the pain almost bringing her to her senses.
"Julian," she said, voice tiny at first and eyes wide, not understanding. Julian's livid expression twitched slightly. But just as fast as the moment had come, it was gone, and the siblings were staring at each other with loathing. "You don't have the spine to do that again."
"No?" Julian said, and he swung his arm back, ready to hit her again. Crow ducked beneath the blow and latched onto his free arm, biting. Julian gave a strangle cry and grabbed her by the hair, twisting until she shrieked.
"You b***h!" he shouted, throwing her off to the side. "You ******** little whore!"
"Whore's son," Crow screamed back, spitting out a mouthful of her brother's blood. "Little toy dog. That's ALL you are. A plaything they made! You're not even a real person!"
"I'm a thousand times the person you are," Julian spat. "You were a beggar in a rich man's house. I lived like a ******** prince. And I gave ALL of it up for YOU, ungrateful b***h!"
Crow shrieked and dove at her brother again, raking her claws forward. They caught the side of his neck and he choked, staggering back and coughing as he fell to his knees. Blood spurted from between his fingers, splattered onto Crow's face.
Crow's eyes, slitted in rage, sprang wide open.
"NAAANGH!"
She rocked back, clutching her head, then darting to her brother.
"Julian," she whispered, horrified. "Julian, what did I do?"
Julian spit out a bit of blood onto the carpet, panting. His fingers hooked and dragged against the carpet, and suddenly they found their way around Crow's throat. She didn't even have time to gasp before he'd pinned her to the floor, slowly strangling her.
"Little animal," he said, voice perfectly calm as a dribble of blood leaked over his lips. "Little...tiny...nothing. All I have to do is twist."
Crow writhed under him, mouth working silently and the insane rage returning. Her hands clawed at his arms, leaving row upon row of cuts behind. Julian paid no attention, intent on strangling her. He grinned like a skull, a breathy, high pitched laugh escaping him.
And suddenly Crow stopped moving, the world spun around him, and Julian felt himself thrown back hard by something he couldn't see.
"Psychokinetic," Julian said, tasting the word. "I forgot."
Crow coughed and rolled over, pushing herself up. She looked at Julian again and he was thrown harder, against the closed door.
"Get out," she said, voice gravelly and full of rage, "of my house."
Julian staggered forward, and he heard the door open behind him. Crow stood up, supporting herself on the breakfast table, focusing on his face and pushing...
"UNGH!"
Julian was pushed out into the hall like he was nothing. The door slammed and he heard the locks being put back in place, and he swore violently, pounding on the wood, screaming to be let back inside. There was no answer.
"Fine," he said, laughing again. "Fine, fine, fine. I get it, I get it, you want the house to yourself, all alone, no one to ******** protect you. Gone. I'm out, I'm gone."
He left, and Crow sprawled on the floor of her room curled into a ball and cried, her hands covering her bruised throat.
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 4:46 pm
__Part 24
Still laughing, Julian staggered at first, then walked down the hall. He was outside and down the road before the laughter stopped and he began to realize what he'd done. He stopped, swaying, shuddering.
"Oh, god. Oh god, oh god, oh god..." he said, gasping. Crow. His sister. What had he...he'd almost...he HAD....
He started running back towards the HQ. He had to make sure she was alright. He'd hit her. He'd hit his own sister.
And what would keep him from killing her?
The thought made him skid to a halt. He could easily have killed her. What if it was Lenore, next time? Lincoln? Malachi? ...Rabid?
"Hnnghk," Julian choked, feeling sick. He couldn't tell when he was lucid and when it was that, that madness. He could snap at any time. He could hurt someone. He would hurt someone.
He couldn't go back.
The realization chilled him worse than any cold he'd been feeling the past weeks. He couldn't trust himself around them. If he could hurt his own sister so willingly, there was no way he could trust himself around anyone anymore. He shuddered, sick with sudden grief. He had to get away. He would hide himself, keep them safe from him. Tears stung in his eyes as a peal of hysterical laughter escaped him. He had to get away.
"Where," he muttered. "Where can I go. No where that's safe."
It didn't matter. He'd find a place. Swallowing hard, pushing his hair away from his face and tasting his own blood on his lips, Julian turned away, and fled towards the city.
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 7:25 pm
{Interlude II - Slave Dream}
It was loyal 'til death. That's what it had been told, had sworn. It was loyal.
And now, it was hopelessly lost.
"Gnnf!" it muttered, kicking at the hot stones and itching sands. It was annoyed. It could no longer see where its master was, and it was getting irritated very quickly. The sun scorched its leathery skin, the winds pelted it with that damnable sand, and it was getting bored and hungry.
"Hnf," it said, brushing away the ugly flies that buzzed around it, smelling rotting meat but finding their meal was still on the move. The cold spot in its mind that guided it to Master was dim, pulled in three different directions. One was strong, the other noticeable, the third weak, hardly there at all. But it still made no sense. How could Master be in three places at once? Hmm hmm. A riddle it did not care to think on too hard. It would find the strongest of the three, and guard that...what was it? A splinter? A shard? Hmph. Well. It would guard what it found, and that was that. And it would leave this damnable desert behind, and it would never voluntarily set foot in this blasted sun ever again.
"HNF!"
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 7:43 pm
__Part 25
"-You realize the only reason you HAVE this house is because of me?"
"Believe me, I've given it thought. And you know what? I don't ******** care. I want you all OUT."
"Mum, please-"
"GET OUT!"
Lenore stumbled out the door, crying and furious with herself for sticking up for Crow.
"I hate you!" she screamed.
"You're laboring under the impression I give a flying ********," Crow spat, leaning in the doorway. The room was in shambles, emptied of any life at all. Lincoln and Doll had long since left, leaving Lenore to attend to the still sick Crow, who'd by each hour it seemed grown more and more hateful.
"Get out, kid. Just....just leave me the ******** alone," she said, turning and slamming the door behind her.
Lenore gave a screech like a wounded bird and stormed away, not wanting to go to anyone for comfort, just wanting to be alone.
Inside the dark and messy room, Crow crept onto her bed and curled up, trying to get warm. All she felt was the creeping dread one feels when they face the inevitable. Like when they are dying alone. She should know. She'd died alone once.
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 8:02 pm
__Part 26
The motel was on the edge of civilization as Julian saw it, walking up the cracked road and into the office. The man behind the counter was ugly to him, though the way Julian saw the world lately wasn't exactly normal. Maybe his perception was just warped more than usual.
"I need a room," he said. The man looked up, giving an assenting noise.
"How long?" he asked. Julian pulled out his wallet with cold-numbed hands, trying to work the clip and finally just throwing the whole thing at the man.
"For as long as that buys me," he said, leaning on the counter and trying to stay upright. The man opened it and his eyebrows shot up.
"There's gotta be a good couple hunnert dollars here, kid, what're you-"
"Just give me a key!" Julian snarled, before he could restrain himself. The man gave him an evil look and slapped the key onto the counter, returning to his newspaper and keeping Julian's wallet. Julian took the key, squinting at the room number as he left the office and climbed the rickety stairs up to the second level. Good. The room was far away from everyone, from everything. He wouldn't have to be afraid of hurting anyone else. Only himself. But then...by now, he just didn't care. He'd just sleep, and he'd die, and fade away, and he'd never bother anyone again.
He hoped.
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 8:10 pm
__Part 27
For the first time in a long while, Crow very badly wanted a cigarette. The remains of her last pack had long since been thrown away, the lone survivor used to relight the pilot light when Julian had reasoned they could have just used the match she'd struck to spark the thing. Sitting alone, glaring out onto the grounds and glad she didn't have to deal with anyone, anything, Crow chewed her lip 'til it bled and wished for a cigarette.
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Posted: Sat May 05, 2007 8:13 pm
Rabid knew none of this. After all, why would she? She approached Crow in her generally pleasant manner, sitting down beside her and looking, waiting for any kind of recognition.
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